Memories
by Dusk-03
Summary: The many girls Ash has met during his journey reflect on their feelings after his recent placing in the Shinn'oh Conference.
1. Giselle

**Chapter 1: Giselle**

She was beautiful. She knew this, every guy at the academy confirmed it. Yet she never could be bothered with any of them. It wasn't like she disliked all the male students, she in fact was on friendly terms with most of them. Its just that none of them would become higher then just students at Pokemon Tech.

No she had bigger dreams, to be able to challenge for the Kanto championship. Heck, the ideal man for her was the Kanto champion himself, Lance. She trained everyday, utilizing both unconventional moves and with the use of the battle simulator. She knew that once she got through her final year at the Pokemon Technical Institution, she would go onto win the Kanto Conference.

And today was no different, class had just ended and Giselle, being the school idol, made her way back to her dorm which she shared with her fellow second years. She had stayed late to help the teachers clean up and of course try and get all the inside information as she could. She didn't get to the top of the school hierarchy by her brains alone. No, she would often get the teachers to reveal what was going to be on the next test or how she could get the upper hand on her classmates whenever they had a mock battle.

As she entered the commons area, she noticed a large group of her dorm-mates around the tv. Not bothering to ask what they were watching, she figure it was just another interview with the coordinator Marina. She never understood her classmates' obsession with the coordinator, they had a much more appealing and perfect idol right in front of them. Once she graduates from Pokemon Tech and become the Kanto Champion, the whole world would see how beautiful she was, much better then that little coordinator who couldn't even last one second in a battle.

"Now trainer Paul and trainer Ash are down to their last Pokemon!" she stopped as she heard the announcement from the tv. Ash wasn't a common name and in her life she had only met one other trainer named Ash, but there was no way this was the same Ash.

She had to find out, the last time she heard anything about Ash was that he finished top 16 in Kanto over a year ago and she also secretly watched his battle with Dome Ace Tucker during her last summer break. It wasn't bad for a trainer who was essentially a newbie back then. Of course, it wasn't her idea to go watch a Battle Frontier battle, who would want to watch someone who couldn't cut it as a Gym Leader and had to settle for something so low as a Frontier Brain. No, her friends had wanted to go watch what they referred to as "the most handsome man meat in all of Kanto" and it was by chance that Ash was the challenger.

She knew that if she ever challenged for the Kanto championship, she would definitely win. She was the top of her school, not even the third years were able to beat her in practice and this was the best school in Kanto. Put two and two together, it was obvious that she would win hands down.

She made her way back to the commons area where the group was gathered, "What's going on here?"

"Oh Giselle!" it was Joe, her classmate and through the last year, one of her best friends."Nurse Joy allowed me to borrow her recordings she got from one of her cousins in Shinn'oh. It's the Shinn'oh conference from a month ago!"

This was odd, Shinn'oh was far from Kanto, and it was rare for Pokemon from the isolated island region to be found in Kanto, even more rare for any recordings of pokemon competition to reach here. She knew that Joy had cousins all over, so it wasn't a surprise that Joe had said it came from one of Joy's Shinn'oh member.

"Look Giselle, its Ash from Pallet Town, you remember right? The one that had Pikachu beat Cubone", how could she not remember, Ash was the one who taught her to love her Pokemon and not to solely rely on the battle simulators. She made her way closer to the tv, she was intregued.

"Trainer Paul once again uses trainer Ash's counter shield strategy!" There were two Pokemon she didn't recognize, definitely Shinn'oh Pokemon. Pokemon Tech didn't teach the Shinn'oh Dex until third year, and Giselle didn't bother with learning them ahead of time, again encountering Shinn'oh Pokemon was rare in Kanto. Her time was spent developing strategy for her pokemon and of course keeping her face prime and proper like any idol should.

The camera had now focused on Ash, Giselle could see the sweat on Ash's face as he concentrated on the battle. He looked the same as the day they met, of course his cloths had changed, much more handsome in her mind. She had to admit, after Ash had beaten her, she became aware if his devotion to his Pokemon and that was when she may have even developed a liking to his boyish smile.

"And trainer Ash's Infernape is the last one standing!" Giselle snapped out of her thought, Ash had won, but she didn't know how far he had gone. Was this a preliminary battle or maybe the finals, she just didn't know. "Trainer Ash moves on to the semi-final!"

She was shocked, even though Ash had beaten her in the past, there was no way a newbie would be able to advance so far. However, she was also glad, if she learnt anything was that Ash never gave up.

"Giselle? Are you okay?" it was Joe, he must have noticed the tears in her eyes. She had tears, but these tears were more of a mother being proud of her son, she liked to think she was one of the more important trainers that Ash had encountered.

"I'm glad, Ash deserves to win." it was true, she was glad for the boy, who instantly went gaga for her when they first met.

"Yeah, Ash sure has gone far since visiting our school. Top 16 in his first conference, then Top 8 in both Johto and Hoenn! I heard he even beat the Orange Islands and Battle Frontier!" Giselle was shocked at what Joe had said, in little over a year Ash had gone on to four regional conferences, while she was still stuck in the confines of Pokemon Tech. Of course she knew that Pokemon Tech gave their students automatic entry to the Kanto Conference, she was a bit jielous that Ash had been able to travel to far away lands, it was the romance of traveling that she wanted. Of course deep down she also envy that little red head, who had her Ash!

She remembered that after his battle with Tucker, she had wanted to surprise him and of course show off to her friends that she knew the trainer who had beaten their beloved Tucker. Instead it was her who got the surprise, Ash was no longer travelling with the little red head but some little girl that was trying to make Ash lust for her by wearing such tight shorts. There was no need for such shorts in Kanto, it was no where near hot enough, maybe for Hoenn, but definitely to Kanto. Now there was two girls that were flirting with her Ash!

When did Ash become her's? Well of course Ash was her's, for one Ash had become a superstar according to Joe and any superstar needs a strong and beautiful girlfriend by his side. Second of all, when they first met, she could tell he was head over heels for her, the same could not be said about the red head, Ash and that red head just didn't click together.

"You know Ash lost in the semi finals, some guy with a Darkrai and Latios beat Ash." that didn't matter to Giselle, the boy who had only beaten her a year ago had gone farther than her, while she was still stuck in Pokemon Tech.

Wait, Joe had said the conference was a month ago and Ash had lost in the semi finals. Which meant Ash was home right now. Maybe she would surprise him with a call. She could try to convince him to visit Pokemon Tech again. Of course it was only a matter of time until he agrees, no man could resist her charms.

* * *

Note: People need to stop commenting about the whole time line thing. I know the 3rd Pikachu short established it was the one year mark, but Best Wishes also established that Ash was still 10.


	2. Melody

note: I got extremely mad when people said I was wrong with the timeline. I don't want to get into a debate as to how old Ash is, but Best Wishes has established that Ash is still 10. As long as I'm concerned, Ash's age is ambiguous, so I've decided from the next chapters on, time will be explained in an ambiguous manner.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Melody**

Some called it the most beautiful place in the world, others call it the center of the earth, for her it was a prison surrounded by ocean. A place where time stood still, where locals preformed rituals liked they were preformed by their ancestors and their ancestors before them.

Her friends had all escaped, but she was different, she had an important role on this island. She couldn't escape even if she wanted to. She was trapped.

It was getting close to that time of year again, the one day she hated the most. Not because she didn't enjoy the festival, she loved being the centre of attraction. After all, she wanted to get off this prison and become a idol, just like that Marina girl she saw on all those magazines.

No, she hated the festival because it brought back memories. Memories of a boyish face, such a kissable face too. Yes, memories of her first love.

At first he was just like any other tourist before him, but something deep inside told her to give him a welcome kiss. She tried to explain it as an island tradition, it was a joke to make his girlfriend mad, but later found out she was only a good friend. The others took her explanation at face value, but she knew the moment they saw each other, it was love at first sight.

And she fell more and more in love with him as he tried to save everyone. He could have given up at anytime, but he didn't. He kept going, even if it meant risking his own life, he never gave up.

Then as soon as he came, he was gone. On to his next big adventure and she, Melody has yet to hear another word about him ever since.

She told everyone on the island she was fine, but she knew they didn't believed her. The topic of the Chosen One had became taboo, so that no one would upset her. Yet here they were, one year later, and the festival was just days away.

She didn't understand why they would hold another festival, hasn't the prophecy came true? Ash was the Chosen One, so why would they need another?

She was the maiden and it was her job to crown the next Chosen One. But she doubt she would be able to do it, Ash was her Chosen One, and she would never let anyone take that away from her.

She envied Misty, getting to travel with Ash, while she was a prisoner. She wondered where they were now, in Johto perhaps or maybe Hoenn? Both were relatively close to Shamouti Island, probably a days ferry away. Knowing that he was this close but she was unable to ever leave this island until her duty was passed on, killed her.

This morning she decided to go help out at the festival house, she had hoped it would keep her mind busy. She found the large hut empty from the outside, which was unusual as the festival house was a tidal wave of activity as the festival day came closer.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" maybe everyone was sleeping in on this beautiful morning.

"We're back here Melody" it was her sister, Carol.

Everyone was gathered around the tv, which was odd since this was an small island, the locals were much to busy to be ever watching tv. Especially when the festival would be upon them very soon. This had to be important enough for the towns people to forget about the festival.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" that voice! She had heard that voice a hundred times in her dreams. It was the voice of her first love.

But why was his voice on tv? The Johto Conference was over half a year ago and the Hoenn Conference was only a few months back, "Is that...is that Ash?"

"Yes indeed it is the Chosen One. However, the Chosen One will lose, his opponent, perhaps another Chosen One, has a guardian." one of the elders voice carried to the spot she stood. She understood, Ash was going to lose. She felt like crying, it almost felt that his sorrow of losing would soon hit her. She didn't want to see his face, it would surely kill her.

She decided to leave, she wouldn't want to remember him like that. She wanted to remember him as the Chosen One, the one that save the world, the one that was always smiling. And the one that was always beside her in her dreams.

"Melody? Where are you going?" her sister had followed her outside.

"To prepare for the festival of course. The Chosen One will need his bride by his side when he returns. Someday."


	3. Sakura

**Chapter 3: Sakura**

She wondered how her sisters were doing back home. Home, she missed it. After all, home was where the heart is. And right now, she was nowhere near her home back in Ecruteak City. At this very moment, she was getting further and further away from her home. She was on her way to Kanto, to Pallet Town, where she would start a brand new journey.

It wasn't about traveling and meeting new people that had her nervous. After all, she had just finished her first ever adventure all on her own. And this wasn't the first time she had traveled to Kanto either. No, it was the weight of expectations that had her nervous.

Although she was the first one amongst her sisters to ever compete in the Pokemon League, they were still far superior than her in every way possible. She wanted to prove to them that she had what it took to make them proud. The Johto Conference had only shown her that she was yet to be on the same level as her sisters or even friend and rival Misty.

Speaking of Misty, she would make sure to stop at Cerulean City and say hi. She also had her Cascade badge with her, the symbol of her first steps into the Kanto Pokemon League. She barely made it past the round robin stage of the Johto Conference, but this was a new start for her. She had brought Espeon with her and kindly asked her sisters to take care of her other Pokemon.

Her mind drifted back to Misty, the girl that helped her decide the Pokemon League was something she wanted to do in her life. Last time they met, Misty was no longer traveling with that hot head trainer, Ash. Instead she was now the new gym leader at Cerulean. When they first met, she had thought Misty and her traveling partner Ash to be a couple in the making, but after seeing Misty with that boy Tracy last time, she was beginning to have doubts.

Speaking of Ash, she wondered where the hot headed boy was now. The time she had visited Misty, she had told her that Ash was now traveling in Hoenn, but that was months ago. Misty had once told her that she and Ash would make a perfect couple, but Sakura was never in love with the boy. No, her feeling towards Ash was that of admiration, Ash was everything she wanted to be as a trainer. Head strong, never heistating, and someone who never gave up, she on the other hand were none of those. Maybe she should have taken the offer to travel with him afterall, she would have picked up on some of ways of training Pokemon. Maybe then would she be a better trainer.

The feeling of nastagia was not something to start off a Pokemon journey with, so she pushed the thought out of her mind. Maybe she was just anxious, she decided would head for the ferry's launge, some soup would calm her down. Afterall, doing nothing but watching the clock in her cabin would not make it go any faster, rather it actually seem to make time move slower. And there was some ways to go yet until she arrived in Pallet Town.

After a considerable amount of time wandering the halls lost in her train of thought, she arrived at the launge. It was quite empty, not surprising as she had opted to take the overnight to Kanto. At the moment it was barely past dawn, but after months of traveling by herself, she had become accustomed to earily mornings.

"Some soup please", the lounge wasn't one of those fancy restuerants, you simply go up to the counter, tell the cooks what you wanted and sat down.

"Isn't it a little early for soup miss?"

"Oh, I'm just a little nervous about my new Pokemon journey", she hated it when people questioned her, especially this early in the morning.

"Well miss, your in luck, just got a fresh supply of berries all the way from Shinn'oh", Shinn'oh wasn't a new word for her, she had actually debated with herself where she wanted to go next, but seeing as she was already one badge down in Kanto, it was the obvious place to go next. She had heard there were two spots in Shinn'oh which she could evolve Eevee to Leafeon and Glaceon. She and her sisters were known for their Eevee evolutions, maybe her sisters would go up to Shinn'oh when they weren't busy with their Tea House.

She decided to seat herself close the giant tv, getting the lastest Kanto news would definitely help her avoid any delays she would have from getting to Pewder City.

"Our morning headline, the Shinn'oh Conference ends with the crowning of a new tournement winner! Furthermore, local boy Ash Ketchem of Pallet Town finishes as one of the Top 4 trainers!" she was shocked that Ash had gone ahead of her so much in so little amount of time.

Had she been wrong to go on her own, afterall, Misty and Ash both wanted her to travel with them, but she declined. Sure her sisters were worried, but she wanted to prove to everyone she wasn't just princess who had everything handed to her. But she had to ask herself, what if she had traveled with Ash.

For one, she would have been a drag for Ash on his adventure, if she had followed him they would have both competed for gym badges or even revisit the cities that he already had badges from. She wasn't so sure she would have became a pokemon trainer at all, maybe she would have became a coordinator.

Yes, definitely a coordinator. She wouldn't have slowed Ash's progress in his gym battles. And her, being a Kimono sister, contest would have been easy with her elagence. She would have spent more time with Misty and established a better sister bond. And maybe, she would have gotten to know Ash much better.

Thinking back on it, a relationship with Ash wouldn't be so bad. Afterall, she would have spent most of her time with her imaginary boyfriend and her sister Misty. But she realized that this was her fantasy, she didn't make any of those choices, but she wasn't unhappy. Looking back, maybe traveling by herself wasn't such a bad idea. She already lived in her sisters' shadow and certainly didn't want to live under Ash's.

She had decided, Ash would certainly be returning to Pallet Town soon. She would delay the start of her Kanto journey for just a few more days. A battle with someone who finished Top 4, didn't sound like such a bad idea.


	4. Bianca

**Chapter 4: Bianca**

Today was hot. She knew all artist had to suffer for their work, but baking under the sun all morning wasn't worth it. She loved working outside, the city just inspired her to no end. However, the temperature was usually comfortable unlike today.

Being located in the middle of the sea, fresh sea breezes would normally blow through the city. She loved being able to work outside everyday, surrounded by the beauty of city's architecture and the serenity of the water's flow.

She would normally paint within the walls of the secret garden, one could paint for an eternity of every endless angle of the garden. However, today she felt like painting the courtyard of her favorite plaza. It was only a bonus that her favorite ice cream store was located there.

Her mind drift back to her painting, she long decided to add people into her scene, after all she wanted show the emotions of her beloved city. Even though the plaza was beginning to fill with people, she didn't mind, she simply loved it here.

Just recently her grandfather had convinced her to hang some of her artwork at the museum, some already called her one of the top young artist to look out for. The one everyone seem to love was her painting of a pikachu under a water fountain; his pikachu.

It seems recently her mind always came back to him. When ever she brought him up in conversation, Latias would get mad at her. Almost as if Latias was jealous. Was it right to fight your best friend over a guy?

Latias had been emotional ever since Latios died, and now it seemed she was growing more and more distant from Bianca. Latias had been spending more time by herself wondering the city lately. Sure she was happy, even more so when she met the new family of Latios and Latias. Yet nothing could cure losing a sibling so soon.

For Bianca it was easy to forget, she knew Latios was watching over them through the Soul Dew. And whenever she got depressed, she would force her to lose herself in her painting.

It was getting close to noon, she knew she couldn't continue working under the Tuscan sun any longer and she had promised Latias they would try out the new cafe for lunch. Of course Latias would be in human form, she had recently taken the form of a tourist girl she had once saw.

The cafe was across the city and the only way there was taking a gondola. She didn't mind this so much as she loved watching life go by in Alto Mare as she slowly travelled down the main canal.

She had waved down an oncoming gondola and gotten on, something that had become second nature to the locals, not giving a second thought to falling.

"My name is Ross and where can I take a beauty such as yourself on this fine day?" asked the gondolier.

She hated when gondoliers tried to flirt with her, which seemed to be every male gondolier in Alto Mare, "Cortile di serena bellezza please, I'm in a hurry."

"As the lady wishes," travelling by gondola certainly wasn't the quickest way to get across town, but it was one of the cheapest, especially for a ten year old girl and an aspiring artist.

"And there you see the famous thetre di acqua," the gondolier was treating her as a tourist, but over the years she learnt to tune them out and just enjoy the beauty of the city. Her mind again travelled back to Ash. She had so many questions, where was he now, had he gotten himself into another adventure, and whether he was travelling with some other girl now?

Her hands nearly slip while supporting her head, when did she ever care if Ash was travelling with some other girl. In fact, why did she care so much about Ash at all, it seemed she just couldn't get the boy out of her mind lately. And it was irritating her how her mind should be focused on her paintings and not some boy she would ever see again.

"And here we are miss," as easily as she boarded the gondola, she stepped on to land without so much as acknowledging the poor boy.

She always loved coming to the old part of town, some of the most beautiful buildings and private gardens were located here. She made her way to the quaint little cafe which recently just opened, knowing Latias was probably mad that she was late.

Latias was already sitting out in the patio sipping on juice when Bianca spotted her. Through the years Latias had learned to use a number of human gestures and finger pointing to get what she wanted.

"I'm sorry I'm late, the new piece is totally making me forget about everything else," somehow Latias saw through her excuse, she gave her a raised eyebrow, "Okay okay, my mind might have wondered to him again."

Even though she knew Latias had a crush on the exact same boy, it was Latias that always facilitated any hope that she had with the boy. It was Latias that had given him her painting before he left, even though she was too scared. And it was Latias who was always there to lend her a hand when she need someone to talk to.

"Occa tea and a Tamato berry sandwich please," she instructed the waiter, this was a blessing to stop Latias from digging any deeper.

Yet again Latias gave her that look. Sometimes Latias' inability to speak irritated her, Latias would just give you a facial expression and one would automatic become an open book.

As a desperate means to get out of having to deal with Latias, she quickly grabbed a newspaper lying on the table next to them. This being a cafe it wasn't uncommon to find such items especially during the morning rush. Bianca quickly turned to a random page so that she couldn't see Latias' face.

What she found was shocking, a series of pictures of Latios. This wasn't suppose to happen, Latios and Latias had the nature to stay hidden from humans. The new family that recently came to Alto Mare did the same, they stayed hidden. And when they did want to go out, they would transform into a human just as Latias had been doing for years. So how was it possible that a Latios was photographed?

She turned to the headline, "New Champion uses Rare Pokemon." She continue to look over the pictures, this just wasn't possible. What she found next shocked her even further, a series of photos had shown action shots of Latios fighting a Pikachu. And the every last picture had the mysterious trainer shaking hands with Ash.

She knew the boy had a nose for trouble or atleast trouble always found him. The first time they met, she thought he was just some strange stocker who had fallen in love with her at first sight. It was just plain creepy how he had tried to follow her all over Alto Mare. Her grandfather even said Ash had a lovelorn eyes and nearly fell heads of heels on to the DMA when he first sighted her in the museum. However, she soon changed her mind when they met a second time in the secret garden.

"Latias look at this," she showed Latias the spread of Ash and his battle against Latios. Latias was shocked to say the least, but she knew others like her existed outside of Alto Mare. She was more shocked to see the boy her bestfriend had a crush on.

Latias herself had moved on, even though Bianca didn't seem to believe it. She knew a human and a pokemon weren't meant for each other, plus the kiss was just a simple way to say thank you. She had been emotional at the time because she had just lost her brother, someone whom had taken care of her ever since she could remember.

Bianca then decided to read the article out loud for Latias, "Former Kanto Battle Frontier winner loses to mysterious trainer holding a Darkrai and Latios. Trainer Ash of Pallet Town becomes the first trainer during this year's Shinn'oh Conference to defeat the mysterious Takato's Darkrai. However trainer Ash was unable to beat Takato's next pokemon, Latios. Trainer Ash used all six of his Pokemon but was unable to beat Takato as his last pokemon, Pikachu drew with Latios. Takato continues on to become the new Shinn'oh Conference champion and will be given a chance to battle the Elite Four."

Latias responded with a smile, then went back to giving Bianca the look again. Bianca knew that Latias wouldn't stop giving her the look today unless she confessed her feelings to her best friend.

"Look Latias, I have a crush on Ash okay, but it's not like I'll be leaving Alto Mare anytime soon and Ash wouldn't be visiting Alto Mare either. So let's just leave it at that!"

Latias seemed to be happy with that answer, it wasn't everyday you would get your best friend to say she liked a boy. Especially a friend who loved to hide her feels all the time.

Bianca was also happy with that answer, she knew that even if Ash knew her feelings, they were simply too busy with their dreams. He was traveling to become a Pokemon Master and she loved her city too much to even think about leaving.

"Come on, after lunch I'll take you cloth shopping, then I'll show you my new painting," which she neglected to mention it was based on a boy and his Pikachu. She would soon realize her mistake as Latias would never let her live it down.


	5. Sayaka

note: I hate the name Marnie Francis Lynnette Joy, so I'm sticking with her original name Sayaka François Joy.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Sayaka**

She was excited, this was her first time traveling to a new region. She had dreamt about this moment ever since she was a little girl. When her mother had told her she had chance to learn about Pokemon and assist one of her cousins, she jumped at the chance.

She was currently on a plane, the final leg of her journey from her home in the Vally Windworks to Sanyou City in Isshu. The journey had been a long one, but she was able to convince her mother to let her bring along one of the Drifloons to keep her company during her stay with her cousin.

She had heard Pokemon from eastern regions could not be found in Isshu, which had her wondering what Pokemon her family used as assistants? In Shinn'oh and the other near by regions it was common for her family to use Blissies, but if they couldn't be found in Isshu then what exactly were they using as assistants?

She would be staying with her cousin Sakuya Joy, who was only a year older then she was. Not only did they have a similar name, but they shared the same birthday, only that it was one year apart.

She would miss home, she hoped Mei wouldn't get too lonely without her, but this trip was only going to last a month. Besides Mei had the other Drifloons to play with and if she was deathly bored then she would seek out Suicune.

Sayaka on the other hand had no one to talk to, at least not until she arrived in Isshu. No one to yell at her when she mistreated a wound, no one to bring lunch to, and definitely no annoying little sister to constantly tease you about a boy you have a crush on.

That right, ever since she and Ash had saved her, Mei would constantly bring Ash up in dinner conversations or to black mail her. She had feared that her parents would disapprove, after all it was a Joy's job to stay put in one city, where as a Pokemon Trainer was to travel all over the regions. So any relationship she would have wouldn't work and was doomed to heartbreak, but a girl could dream couldn't she?

Since she would be living with one of her cousins closer to her age, maybe she would get some sound advice from her Ishhu cousin. Actually, now that she thought about it, all her cousins in Ishhu were relatively the same age as her. She couldn't wait to have some late night girl talk with them, that was definitely something to look forward to.

Speaking of Ash, she wondered if her mother had seen him again yet. Since their family's Pokemon Center was one of the more isolated ones, her mother had been asked to help out during the Shinn'oh Conference. She was sure that Ash would have gotten his eighth badge by now.

She would make sure to call her mother once the plane lands. At this very moment though, her mind was slowly drifting towards sleep. This being her first time on a plane, she was much too excited to sleep; this she decided was a bad idea, the plane would land soon and her eyelids seem to become heavier with each passing moment.

When next she woke, she realized she was older, nearly the age of her mother. She noticed that she was still in bed, and she was not alone. She stood up to note that this wasn't her bedroom either, but it seemed familiar. Next, her attention turned to the body beside her, it was a men, he wore his trademark spiky black hair and his charming face with his mouth wide open surely dreaming of his next meal.

"Ash honey. You better wake up, Scott called last night and said you may have a challenger arriving sighing the next few days," she tried to wake her husband has genteelly as possible. Being a wife of a Frontier Brain wasn't easy, on top of being a Nurse Joy.

"5 more minutes honey, I'm just about to eat this yummy berry burger," her husband replied groggily. This was nearly the same routine everyday, Ash would sleep in while she got the kids ready for Pokemon Tech, then she would spend nearly an hour trying to get him up. She had found the best way to wake him was to tell him there was a challenger waiting for him at the Battle Factory or to tell him that she was wearing a new lacy nightgown just for him.

"Scott said there would be a challenger arriving today, unless you want to spend the entire day in bad instead of this once in a life time battle, you better get up."

"Battle?" Her husband got up at once, ran to get dress for the day,"why didn't you say anything sooner, I could have gotten up earlier to do some practice!"

Ash had changed from the day they met, and maybe that's why she was so in love with him. She remembered when they first fell in love. She had been practicing at a Pokemon Center in Isshu with her cousin, when one day Ash had arrived along with his traveling partners Iris and Dento. At the time she was already in love with the boy, but he seemed indifferent to the idea of romance.

Since it was near the end of her stay with her cousins, Ash had mentioned that she should travel with him, telling her of all the thing she could learn while traveling. It took a bit of chorusing her mother, but soon after she began her journey with Ash. It was only after awhile that her husband had eventually thought about hanging up traveling and starting a family.

"Ash I'm going to wake the children up," she called through to the bathroom. Waking her children up was much easier than waking her husband, especially the girls. In fact she knew that her girls were probably already down stairs getting ready for the day.

Their happy family consisted of 3 children, 2 of which were twins. Sam and Dahlia were born soon after their marriage, named after two of her husband's most inspirational peoples in his life. Their youngest was Sakuya after her Isshu cousin. And of course the girls every much looked like herself and her sister Mei when they were that age. Although her girls looked liked her, they apparently showed no interest in becoming the next generation of nurses. Instead her elder daughter was preparing for her own Pokemon journey in a few weeks once she turned 10. Her boy however took more interest in her job, he had said he wished to become like his name sake, but she figured he really wanted to work with his uncle, Professor Gary Oak.

She walked into the twins' room, to notice that her daughter had already left, leaving her brother still sleeping with the same sleeping grin her husband had. She lightly tapped him,"honey, Prof. Oak will be here soon. You promised him to see the new litter of Pichu's in the forest remember."

Slowly waking from slumber, her son hazy eyes looked towards her, "I'll be right down mom."

"make sure to take the lunches I made last night, I don't want you or your uncle Gary to starve. I know how caught up you two can get when you're in the fields."

She slowly made her way to the kitchen, making sure to quickly check if her younger daughter was awake. She found both of them sitting at the kitchen table with their eyes on the tv.

While her younger daughter was wearing simple clothes, her older daughter was wearing something she considered more racy. Dahlia was wearing nothing else but a very tight and very white t-shirt along with a black vest. And a very, very short, jean shorts. She knew that her daughter probably wore it to impress Gary's own son, who was also about to start his very own journey.

She simply tried to concentrate on making breakfast and not commenting on her daughters appearance. She only had a few weeks left her first born and she didn't want to start any arguments that would strain their relationship. She remembered when she start traveling with Ash, her sister didn't take it so well. In fact there was still some underlying tension when both Mei and her were in the same room. Before she left for her Isshu interim, she had promised her sister she would be back within a month. You could see how devastated Mei was when she called home to tell her she was going to be traveling instead of keeping her promise.

She also knew that Gary's son had no interest in girls what so ever, seeing he was vey much like her husband at that age, the only thing on his mind was Pokemon battles and not some girl who obviously liked you. Maybe someday her daughter would find happiness with the young Oak, but she hoped that day was a long ways away.

"Mom!"

She heard a voice call, at first she thought was Sakuya, but it was distant and feint.

"Mam, we've arrived in Sanyou City. You don't want to miss whoever your meeting today do you mam?"

"huh," she slowly rubbed her hazy eyes. A blurry figure of the flight attendant stood in front of her, gently trying to wake her. It had all been a dream. Her perfect world had been a dream, she felt like crying. It had been so perfect, so real.

As she stepped onto the stairs leading out of the aircraft, a couple of tears did in fact escaped her eyes.


	6. Touko

**Chapter 6: Touko**

She was exhausted, haven't slept the previous night, and it was getting close to lunch. She was just to excited to even think about sleeping, tomorrow she would start her Pokemon journey. However, today she had promised her best friends Bel and Cheren they would meet up and discuss their plans for their up coming journey.

As she made her way to their meeting spot, she couldn't help wonder which Pokemon she would chose as her first partner. Her best friend Bel had long decided on Mijumaru, who she claims was the cutest of the three. That only left Tsutaja and Pokebu for Cheren and herself. Knowing Cheren, he would most be the first one to arrive tomorrow and have a deep look into who he wanted.

Bel was already at their agreed spot when she arrived, but Cheren was nowhere in sight.

"Where is he?" she asked her friend, who only grinned and replied.

"He who?" although Bel was the more developed of the two, she still acted like a six year old and just as clumsy. Yet, that was what she loved about her friend, she was always the sunshine in their little group.

"Cheren, where is he?"

Her friend gave her a blank look, but suddenly looked like something major had hit her, "He said he had something important to watch."

She grabbed Bel arms suddenly and started to make her way towards Cheren's house, "Come on, let's go get that Slowbro. Nothing is more important then spending our last day home together as best friends should."

They soon came upon their friend's house, a small little house like every other house in their tiny 'old fashion village' as her cousin Shooti had once called it. It was Cheren's mother who answered the door and invited them in.

The two girls made their way to the living room where they found Cheren tensely watching tv screen. She roughly made her way next to him, leaving Bel standing on the spot, sat down and crossed her arms.

"So, what's so important that you had to ditch us?" her eyes were closed, but one could tell she was very angry. She tapped her fingers against her arms waiting for a suitable answer.

Without so much as blinking nor acknowledging their presence he replied, "The Shinn'oh Conference round of 8 is on. And if I were you, I would pay serious attention to it. Unlike us, these are experienced trainers."

She was lost for words, Cheren always had that effect on her, maybe that's why they would frequently clash heads with each other. Cheren was the smart one amongst them, but Bel always called her the leader, it was a common for them to have a power struggle.

"Come on Bel, it looks like we're not needed here," she stood up and readied herself to exist the room. Bel on the other hand looked frightened, she never liked it when her two best friends fought, and she often didn't want to chose sides, opting instead for them to calm down and think rationally before eventually making up.

"Oh, leaving soon?" a grin appeared on Cheren's face, "Even when it's your favorite trainer who's battling?" This time it was Cheren with his arms crossed and a smug look aimed at her.

She turned from the door way, shocked at what her friend just said, then as if the tv answered her thoughts, a voice was heard from the tv clear as day, "Pikachu, Volt Tackle!"

It was no secret amongst them that she had a slight crush on the trainer, her friends called it being a fan girl, which in all honesty was what she was. It start almost a year ago, when the Johto Conference was on tv. She had witness her first Pokemon battle, and it knock the wind out of her. Before she was indifferent to the idea if becoming a Pokemon trainer. Bel and her were girly girls for the most part, the majority of time was wasted on looking at the latest fashion magazines and chatting about a cute guy every so often.

After she witness the thrilling battle between who she later found out were Ash Ketchem and Gary Oak, both from a little town called Pallet Town. She instantly became a fan girl of Ash, she tried to style herself after how he battle. It was rare for her to she him on tv, the only other times she saw him again was during the Hoenn Conference and a couple of the Kanto Battle Frontier when they were televised.

She had decided long ago that she would travel, she tried to convince herself that traveling would be good to learn about her independence, but deep down she knew that she wanted to travel so that her desire to one day meet her idol would come true.

"Cheren, you know she just wants a Pikachu like his, it's so cute and cuddly, you can just squeeze it all day!"

Bel always had a way with words that would lessen the tension between the two. She was grateful for her friend, she herself was too embarrassed to give a reply to Cheren. And she certainly didn't want to lose an argument with him.

"Have you decided which Pokemon you want as your starter?" Bel asked with her smiling face, the same smile she had everyday.

Cheren was deep in thought,"Pokebo seems like the strongest choice, it's speed is decent but his power is greater than that of Tsutaja."

"Then that leaves Tsutaja for Touko," replied Bel.

"Hey wait, why do I get the weakness to Cheren's starter? Cheren has been studying Pokemon all his life, he shouldn't get a type advantage over little old me."

"That's because we all know you'll be too excited to sleep and then over sleep and be the last one to leave tomorrow. You know what they say, early bird gets the Kurumiru," said Cheren smugly. It was true, she hadn't slept a wink last night and probably won't be able to sleep again tonight, it was a disastrous recipe that would ultimately result in her being the last to leave.

Although she would ended up with disadvantage against her biggest rival, she knew from watching her idol that type advantage didn't matter when you put your heart and mind into training and battling.

"Hmmp, come on Bel, Cheren is only trying to be a know-it-all. I'll beat you Cheren, I promise you that and one day I will be meet my hero!"

Cheren smirked, "That'll be the day".


End file.
